Itâs important to make a good impression on companies that reach out to you, even ones you arenât interested in. Here are our best tips for communicating with companies that send you interview requests.
Accepting an interview request
If you think of your profile as your CV, your reply to an interview request is like a mini cover letter. The best way to win at your reply would be to let them know youâre excited about the opportunity and then to make it easy for the company to set up the next steps in the interview process.
In composing a reply, you can:
Thank them for reaching out and let them know that you're excited to interview with them
Tell them when you'd be available for a call or a meeting or point them to your OfferZen calendar
Give them your contact details (email and cell number)
Declining an interview request
If you aren't keen to explore the opportunity presented in an interview request, you can politely decline by:
Thanking them for reaching out
Offering some feedback about why the opportunity is not a good fit for you
This way, you can decline the offer but still keep the relationship intact.
What to do if youâre interested but have questions
Itâs normal to have some questions that you want answered before deciding whether to start a companyâs interview process! In this case, it is best to accept their request with a message including the following:
Thank them for reaching out
Let them know that youâre interested in chatting further
Ask your questions. Hiring managers are always willing to clear up the things you arenât sure about.
Some companies may want to reserve the initial chat to run through questions, in which case it is up to you whether you want to move further. We typically recommend taking the call to fully explore whether itâs a good fit for what youâre looking for or not.